monsbrick

Please let me know if I send you a postage due item! I’m happy to make it up to you. My local post office has reduced hours still:(

Welcome to my profile! I am 53 years old and live near San Francisco, California. My town is an island in the San Francisco Bay. I have also lived on another island 🌴 here in the bay.

A few of my favorite things: Handmade anything. Dabbling in drawing, doodling, some variation of zentangles, watercolor, gel plate printing, stamping, collage, acrylics, sewing, painting, coloring, knitting, and other fiber arts, beading, cooking, and more.

Penpal writing and journal writing are some of my favorite pastimes.

💜Bella Grace& Daphne’s Diary & Somerset Studio are magazines I read.

Here are some of the YouTube people I subscribe to: Maremi Smallarts, Nik the Booksmith, Mystele, Ana Bondu, Susanne Rose Art, The Paper Outpost, Creationsceecee, My Arty Heart, Lisa Oxley, Joie de fi, Gel Press, and Gelli Arts.

Postcards: I love any and all postcards. Here is a list to help make your selection easier. But really I love them all! I also specifically like handmade, collage, tourist, art, any upcycled or reused or reformed "art", illustrated, inspirational, humor, photography.

Paper: I love stationery and all kinds of paper.

Junk journals, funky scrapbooks. I'm not that coordinated nor designed. My style is eclectic and messy and Bohemian. But I love to save all kinds of little bits and pieces. Ribbons, book pages, washi tape, wrapping paper, home made paper.

Currently listening to Bob Woodward's book, Rage and also Jeffrey Toobin's True Crimes & Misdemeanors. On a spooky note I'm reading the latest Annette Marie as I'm addicted. I'm also addicted to various apocalyptic writers, not in the Biblical sense though that interests me too, but the End is Nigh with stories by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Scott Sigler.

What are you reading or listening to? Would you recommend a book to me? Or several? I’m open to new books right now. I finally cleared up my 2019 book list and I’m ready for new juicy reading material!!

Black Lives Matter and even beyond that I have loved James Baldwin since I discovered him by wandering around my local library and picking up books. I love everything he has written from fiction like Another Country to non-fiction, Price of the Ticket. The latest tv show Lovecraft Country has a voice over excerpt of James Baldwin and I was jumping up and down in my living room screaming that's James Baldwin. He writes the kind of words that make me want to cry and laugh and dance. When he talks or writes about jazz it makes me want to play the piano or dance and sway like I can feel the drums beating. He became an ex-pat and moved to Paris and France and explored the Negro experience in that country, which has its own struggles and history different from ours here in the USA but I could gush and gush. There are times when I feel so raw and realize that is how I am, I come across to other people at times, deep and raw and oversharing. But it's epic. And beautiful and yet some things a person has to experience on their own. They can't just read about or hear about. They need to go out and walk the trail, or smell the rain, or watch the waves crash at the ocean. Not everything can come through a book, but it is nice to find an author or a book or movie/tv show that can convey some of the beautfy.

Apocalyptic Fiction:

*Hugh Howey *Paolo Bacigalupi

Cyber fiction:

*William Gibson *Neal Stephenson

Horror

*Anne Rice *Chuck Hogan *Guillermo del Toro *Scott Sigler *Edgar Allen Poe

Teen Fiction

*Annette Marie *Sarah Cameron

Travel Writing

*Paul Theroux *Henry Miller

General Fiction

*Jon Steele *Francesca Lia Block *Anais Nin *Jack Kerouac *Gabriel Garcia Marquez *Danielle Steel *George R.R. Martin *Haruki Murakami *Robert B. Parker *JD Salinger *Jim Harrison

General Non-Fiction

*Oliver Sacks *Jeffrey Toobin *Angela Duckworth *Malcolm Gladwell *Jack Kerouac *Esther Perel *Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner *John McPhee

Naturalist

*John Muir *Henry David Thoreau

On writing, mostly I write for myself. I've kept a journal or diary since I was a kid. Today I've decided to try a writing group here at swap-bot. I feel nervous about sharing what I write but just look at this profile page...it is filled with words. It will be a challenge but I probably need to feel less possessive about my private writing and to share some of it with other people. Part of me is very excited to try a new creative writing group experience!

Mostly now, I Walk, Dance, and do yoga.

When this is over I will swim again.

Happily many old friends are hosting free dj dance sets and we can stream sets live or download free versions at Soundcloud or many other websites I can't even keep up with. It's a happy upshot of this nightmare.

Instead of sending extras, so something extra special for yourself. Buy yourself something sweet. Do a mini spa treatment or a maxi treatment! In this time of stress and isolation be kind to yourself and I’ll feel it remotely. You can even tell me what wonderful thing or experience you had. That would really make my day. ❤️💕💜💗🍾🎂🐶💗🍒🍑

Crystals & Rocks & Precious Metals: I used to think hippies were crazy for being into these things. I didn't get it. I still do not really understand the metaphysical aspects but I just love crystals and rocks and metals.

Here are a few of my favorite crystals: Rock crystal, rutilated quartz, amazonite, tourmaline, pyrite, mica, rose quartz, celetite, serpentine, selenite, jasper, azurite, obsidian, and many more.

Artist Trading Cards or ATC and other arts and crafts creations. Recently I started really trading artist cards and that is super fun. I'm enjoying swapping these cards, other peoples' beautiful, fantastic, creations!

I can't think of a genre of music that I don't like.

I also love to listen to spoken word, plays, old radio shows.

I heard some big investor, one of the Rolling Stones maybe? Is saving the old blues recordings on 78-- from like the Mississippi delta and Louisiana-- vinyl and converting the into digital collections. I also love Gospel. I am not familiar with too many Gospel singers but I love some Gospel music, church music, Gregorian chants, ecstatic dance...Amen.

My husband and I have planted a small victory garden. We have had a garden for over 10 years. This year we planted with the intention of reducing our dependence on the grocery store. Edible flowers too. Fruits like this year a volunteer blackberry bush joined our harvest. Cucumber, kale, mache, lettuces, beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and peppers all varieties of peppers.

What about you? Do you grow anything? Do you have house plants? Succulents/ can you give me any advice on succulents. I kill mine-unintentionally.